Sacramento Valley Biographies

GEORGE W. PIERCE JR.  

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, June 2009.

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

         That the occupation of farming, around which centers every other line 
of important activity in the world, can be made as congenial and personally 
satisfying, as dignified and ennobling, as the most cultured mind could desire, 
is proved in the life of George W. Pierce Jr., owner of twelve hundred acres of 
land twelve miles southwest of Woodland. In other days Mr. Pierce qualified as a 
civil engineer, and had his dreams of conquest over the wilds and out of the way 
places of the earth, correctly estimating the enormous amount of usefulness 
possible to the manipulator of compass and chain. Still later he turned his 
attention to arrangements for studying law, but as was the case with his civil 
engineering projects, his duty and his ambition did not lie in the same 
direction. His father, whose namesake he is, had come across the plains in 1852 
from Wisconsin, in which state he had settled in 1835, having ridden overland 
from his native Herkimer county, N. Y. He had a little money and plenty of 
determination, and had established a family in Kenosha county, Wis., after 
marrying Eunice French, who was born in Connecticut, October 28, 1821. 
He was born in 1814, and his wife was therefore seven years his junior. His son, 
George W., was born in Kenosha county, December 10, 1850, he being the only one 
living of the three children born in Wisconsin. Leaving the children in the care 
of others, the parents came to California, and for the first two years the 
father engaged in mining in Eldorado county, in 1854, locating on what was known 
as the Big ranch, owned by Hutchinson & Green, at that time the most extensive 
land owners of this section. He was successful in managing the enormous grain 
ranch, and in 1859 his wife returned east by way of Panama and brought the 
children back with her. The failure of the firm Hutchinson & Green in 1860 
changed the plans of Mr. Pierce, and he forthwith arranged to purchase twelve 
hundred acres of their ranch. Mr. Pierce continued to farm his property for many 
years, but in 1888 retired to Davisville, where his death occurred in February, 
1891. He is survived by his wife, who still makes her home in Davisville. 

          When George W. Pierce Jr., graduated from the University of California 
in the class of 1875 he had the distinction of being the pioneer graduate of 
that institution from the Sacramento valley. Afterward he took a course in civil 
engineering, and after receiving his diploma secured a position with the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Owing to an accident to his father he was 
obliged to return home and take charge of the farm, two years later laying plans 
to take up the study of law. When this desire seemed reasonably certain of 
realization his father's health again interfered, and he continued to remain at 
home and manage the farm. From then to the present time he has made a practical 
study of the possible resources of his farm, and now has it all in working 
order, a splendid and fertile property, as varied and interesting in its 
development as any of which this country can boast. Practically all of the 
improvements have been made since the present family took possession. One 
hundred and fifty acres constitute a bearing orchard in which almonds and prunes 
predominate. A specialty is made of Shropshire sheep, of which there are about 
thirteen hundred, and of Shorthorn cattle, of which there are one hundred. Mr. 
Pierce raises stock for market and not breeding, and is one of the most 
extensive raisers in the county. Grain furnishes an important source of revenue, 
besides general products. In proportion as the son's educational and other 
opportunities have been greater, the property has taken on added impetus and 
importance, profiting by the painstaking thought and inventions of those whose 
business it is to make of agriculture  a science, a pleasure and a varied source 
of profit. 

          Mr. Pierce's ability to be of use to his fellowmen finds an outlet in 
many local channels. His efforts have ever been characterized by extreme public 
spiritedness. He is one of the organizers and the vice-president of the Almond 
Growers' Association of Davisville, and president an one of the organizers of 
the California Grain Growers' Association, the latter having headquarters in San 
Francisco since its start in 1902. Its members are scattered throughout the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, and its existence has resulted in great 
grain for the growers of grain in this part of the state. As a broad-minded 
politician Mr. Pierce has been called upon to fill many offices of trust and 
responsibility, including that of representative of Yolo County in the state 
assembly of 1898. He also served in the special session of 1900, and at that 
time was a member of the committee on ways and means, on education, on public 
buildings and grounds, and on swamps and overflowed lands. He is at present a 
member of the state central committee. For about five years he served as a 
trustee of the State Normal School at San Jose under the admin-istrations of 
Governors Budd and Gage. Mr. Pierce is a prominent fraternalist, and is a member 
and past grand of Davisville Lodge No. 169, I. O. O. F., and of the Rebekahs, to 
which latter organization his wife also belongs. He is a lecturer at large for 
the California promotion committee, comprised of prominent business men of San 
Francisco and the state, and was sent throughout the middle west on a lecturing 
tour, traveling in Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and 
arousing great enthusiasm through his faithful portrayal of the advantages and 
possibilities of life on the coast. He also represented his organization in 
Portland, Ore., at the time of the meeting of the National Grange in November 
1904. 

         Mr. Pierce married Susan Gilmore, a native of Eldorado county, Cal., 
and they became the parents of four children: Gilmore, who died in infancy; 
George G.; Eunice, who died in infancy; and Dixwell Lloyd. Mr. Pierce has hosts 
of friends among the prominent business men of the coast, and in his own 
immediate locality has attained to enviable influence in all matters of public 
moment. He has the best of all attributes, common sense, and an infectious 
enthusiasm for whatever he considers worthy his attention. He is liberal from 
both a mental and financial standpoint, and is regarded as one of the most 
substantial and morally upright of the men who are maintaining the stability and 
dignity of Yolo county. 

"History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento 
Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906, 
Pages 555-556.